Rabita Trust

The US State Department
on September 23, 2001 categorised the RT as an organisation linked to
international terrorism. The US administration has pointed out that
the Rabita Trust is part of a web of charities funding Islamist terrorist
movements such as Osama bin Laden's
Al Qaeda network.

Formation

Rabita Trust (RT) was formed
in 1988 during the term of the then President Ziaul Haq, who was its
founding Chairman, with the aim of organising the repatriation and rehabilitation
of stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh.

Objectives

The Rabita Trust describes
itself as a as "a popular, international, Islamic and non-governmental
organization, at which Muslims from all over the world are represented."
It is a charitable organization that assists Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
The main objectives of the Rabita Trust are to disseminate Islamic Dawah
(culture) and expound the teachings of Islam, and to ‘defend’ Islamic
causes in a manner that safeguards the interests and aspirations of
Muslims, solves their problems, refutes false allegations against Islam,
and repels inimical trends and dogma which the enemies of Islam seek
to exploit in order to destroy the unity of Muslims and to sow seeds
of doubt in the Muslim brethren.

Leadership and Structure

Jeddah-based Saudi businessman
Wael Hamza Jalaidan is the Secretary-General of Rabita Trust. Jalaidan
is reported to be a founding member of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda terrorist
network and is also considered to be its chief of logistics and had
fought along with bin Laden against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan.
He was also temporarily head of the Saudi Red Crescent Society and the
Muslim World League during his stay in Afghanistan. He reportedly developed
strong linkages with leaders of the various Afghan factions, in his
capacity as an official in charge of distributing large scale Saudi
relief aid to Afghan refugees. He had also established linkages with
the then Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq and his successor former Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif. Jalaidan was one of the three persons during
that period who represented Arabs assigned to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The other two were Abdullah Azzam and Osama Bin Laden. Jalaidan is considered
to be an expert in arms transportation and distribution. Jalaidan left
Afghanistan at the end of 1992 and thereafter settled in Saudi Arabia
and is reported to have engaged in ‘commercial activities’. He then
joined the ‘aid operations’ to Bosnia, where he supervised temporarily
the Saudi Aid Committee, the largest aid organization then in Bosnia.
He also assumed the office of the supervisor of the Muslim World League
endowments. Jalaidan is also reported to have lived in Arizona, USA,
in the early 1980s and headed an Islamic centre there before joining
bin Laden in the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan.

President Pervez Musharraf
was one of the patrons of Rabita Trust. Media reports quoting US sources
have indicated that the US administration had warned the Pakistani President
of the impending order against the Rabita Trust and encouraged him to
disassociate himself from the trust. A Pakistani government spokesperson
clarified on October 15 that the post of Chairman of the RT being an
ex-officio position had been with the Prime Minister and after taking
over as Chief Executive, General Pervez Musharraf became the Chairman,
but never presided over any of the trust meetings. The spokesperson
also said that the President had ordered an audit of the accounts of
Rabita Trust by a private firm to ascertain whether its funds were used
for any other purpose than the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis from
Bangladesh. Simultaneously, the Auditor General of Pakistan is also
reported to be carrying out an audit of the trust.

The members of the trust
included Pakistan’s ministers of finance and interior, Saudi Prince
Talal ibn Abdul Aziz, secretary-generals of the Muslim World League
and the International Islamic Relief Organization and President of the
Council of Saudi Chamber of Commerce. The governing body of RT comprises
an equal number of members from the Government of Pakistan and the Saudi-based
Rabita Alam Al-Islami.

The RT secures its finances
primarily from Saudi businessmen. Rabita Alam Al-Islami had contributed
Rs 50 million while the share of the Pakistan government was Rs 250
million when the trust was established. The trust had constructed 1,000
houses in Mian Channu, Punjab, during the early 1990s and it was the
only expenditure incurred by the trust in this regard. The last meeting
of the RT held in 1997 was presided over by the then Pakistani Premier
Nawaz Sharif as Chairman. Currently, the secretary Cabinet Division
holds the charge of Chairman of the trust.

Linkages

Peshawar in Pakistan was
the main depot for smuggling arms into Afghanistan and other bordering
points and with the help of Azzam, Jalaidan was able to smuggle arms
not only into central Afghanistan but further into the northern parts.
Rabita Trust is affiliated with a Saudi-based Pan Islamic organisation
Rabita Alam-e-Islami or the Muslim World League, which is known in different
countries with different names. In Pakistan, they have links with the
Jamaat-e-Islam (JeI).

The RT is also linked to
the UK-based International Islamic Relief Organisation (IIRO). Media
reports indicate that Muhammad Jamal Khalifa, brother-in-law of Osama
bin Laden, heads the IIRO branch office in Philippines. Khalifa is reported
to be the intermediary between bin Laden and the Abu Sayaf terrorist
group.